


Troubled Home

by Dreamelilly018



Series: Mama Eda and Mother Lilith [2]
Category: The Owl House (Cartoon)
Genre: AU, Adoption, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Child Abuse, Emotional Hurt, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Family, Found Family, Good Parent Eda Clawthorne, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Love, Luz's father is not a good person, Mama Eda, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Parental Love, Past Child Abuse, Sad Luz Noceda, Sad with a Happy Ending, bad homelife
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-08
Updated: 2020-09-08
Packaged: 2021-03-07 07:53:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26349649
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dreamelilly018/pseuds/Dreamelilly018
Summary: Eda Clawthorne never gave a second thought on why her human apprentice would want to spend an entire summer learning magic until she began to grow familiar with the patterns of her behavior. When she notices some startling patters, she knew something had to be done before it was too late.
Relationships: Eda Clawthorne & Luz Noceda, Luz Noceda & Luz's father
Series: Mama Eda and Mother Lilith [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2190306
Comments: 22
Kudos: 367





	Troubled Home

Living with her human apprentice for three weeks now, Eda began to notice some patterns in her behavior. For example, when she was upset or hurt, Luz would pull her hoodie up and hide her face with the drawstrings. Or when she was mad, she would disappear into the bedroom, hiding beneath her covers until either King or herself went to retrieve her to talk to her. But there was one thing that still puzzled the Owl Lady. It was the brief moment of fear that flashed in her eyes when she got called into the kitchen or how she raised her hands to block her face as if expecting to be struck instead of being coddled or how she flinched and started crying when voices her raised a margin. She was the one never to pry into someone personal life but it began to worry her when she no longer offered any sign of affections to King, Hooty, or her, and started to distance herself more from the friends she made like there was a secret cause of them abandoning her.

So, for the next two weeks, the witch kept a close eye on her pupil, watching for anything she should keep track of later if she chooses to speak to her. The first time it happened was when she was having a major freak out, possibly about Hexide or a new spell she finally mastered, her voice rising and speaking rapidly in her second language but only to stop when she notices how her mentor was in the room. Her eyes had grown wide before she shouted about being sorry and running outside for her only to return until minutes before her bedtime.

The second time is when she had returned from helping Amity recreate Willow’s memories. She had gone to pat her affectionately on the head when she flinched and became white as a ghost until she realized it was her. Stammering an excuse of not feeling well, she had retreated to her room until Eda had called her for supper, not letting her go to bed without.

It was the events at Grom that broke open the gates. After seeing how terrified and shaky her apprentice was, Eda couldn’t push it off anymore. There was something that was bothering Luz and it had to be dealt with before it got out of hand or put her in danger.

***

`It had been only a few hours after Grom and Eda were preparing to head to bed when she noticed the small beam of light filtering from the crack between the floor and door of Luz’s makeshift bedroom. Approaching the attic door, she placed her hand on the handle but froze. It wasn’t hard for her to recall the feeling of hatred and dislike of her parents barking in her room and giving her no privacy under the statement of “This is our house. We pay the bills. You are just a guest for the next three years..”

Scowling, she took a step back and gave a gentle rap.

“Kid, are you still up?"

She received no response, prompting her to knock again.

“Kid, it’s late and you have school tomorrow. Shouldn’t you be in bed by now?”

No vocal response. But there was a muffled sniffling on the other side of the door.

“Kid, I know you’re awake,” Eda said, gripping onto the handle once more. “Is everything alright?” When she received no response, she opened the door and entered the room. Blinking at the bright light compared to the dimly lit hallway, she saw her apprentice, curled up in the window still, face pressed into her knees, sniffling.

 _Is this because of what happened at Grom? Did seeing her father bring something up_ , Eda thought worriedly. The girl, shaking and trembling, flinched at the sound of the door closing.

“Hey, Luz?” she said in a soft voice, that startled her. Crouching down in front of the sniffling child, she brushed her hair out of her face. “I’m not going to hurt you, sweetie,” she whispered, golden eyes looking at her. “Can I talk to you for a moment, kid?”

Raising her head and using her sleeve to wipe the tears off her cheeks, she scrunched her face up. “A-am I in trouble?” she asked, amber-brown eyes watering. “What did I do this time?”

Eda’s eyes widen in surprise and worry stabbed in the pit of her stomach. She crouched down closer to the height of the girl, elbows resting on her knees as she reached out, hesitant. “You aren’t in trouble, Luz. I just want to talk to you.”

“Okay..” Letting her legs fall over the edge of the window still, she gave some space for her mentor to sit beside her. “What do you want to talk about, Eda? Did something happen?”

“Nothing happened this evening...” Eda settled next to her on the windowsill, pausing to pull her close to her side. “I don’t know if this is a sensitive topic, but by how you react I am just going to assume that it is. “But I’ve noticed some things that are a bit worrying whenever someone tries to touch you or tonight when you became Grom Queen, and you…” She sighed. “When Grom revealed your greatest fear was your father, right?”

Cheeks burning with shame and eyes staring straight ahead, she gave a weak nod.

“D-do you want to talk about it, Luz? I mean, with everything we have been through, your father is your worst nightmare. He had to do something to cause you to run away like you did, Kid.”

Looking down at her lap, Luz fell silent, feeling like a cold bucket of ice had dropped on her. With her being in the Boiling Isles for five weeks, she had finally started to realize she couldn’t get close to others in fear of them abandoning her as her former friends had.

“Luz?”

Biting her lip, Luz kept staring at the ground, not meeting Eda’s direct gaze. “My father isn’t a nice person,” she began, hands pressing against her stomach with a pained expression.

When Eda heard that, she felt sick to her stomach. When people and Monsters on the Isle talked about a person, “not being nice,” meant they did something wrong with children. It was the same talk that her mother and father had with her before she started her first year at Hexide, in explaining that nobody except them or a healer should touch her beneath her clothes or no adult should tell her to keep a secret from them. “L-L-Luz did he ever….” Eda looked at the girl, trying to find some way to say it without hurting her. “Did he ever touch you where he shouldn’t?”

Hiding her hands into her face and letting out a whimper, Luz gave a shake of her head, much to the relief of Eda. “He never did something like that to me,” she explained in a broken whimper. “H-h-he…My father l-laid his hands on me.”

It took all Eda’s strength not to go track down her father and strangle him. Letting out a low growl, she forced herself to calm down when she saw how panicked Luz looked. “D-d-did he scar you?” she asked, voice tense.

“H-he heated a branding stick, what is used on cows, and p-p-put his name on my back,” she said, bursting into tears before throwing herself onto Eda, burying her face into her lap. “I don’t want to go back, Eda! Please don’t make me go back.”

“You’re not going back,” Eda promised, wrapping her arms around the sobbing girl and rubbing soothing circles on her back. “You can stay here with me, attend Hexide with your friends, and become the best witch that the Boiling Iles has ever known. For all we know, you can become a stronger and better witch than me.”

Sniffling and raising her head to stare at her mentor, Luz gave a small nod before a yawn escaped. Using her sleeve to wipe her tears off, she sat up.

“Now, it’s time for you to get to bed, kid.” Eda stood up, allowing the preteen to slide down onto the window still. Giving a quick stretch to untangle her aching muscles, she turned to the child. “I’ve let you stay up too late as it is. With having school tomorrow, you don’t want to be tired during your abomination or potion classes. I don’t want to receive a call saying that you started a fire or got goop in your hair from you falling asleep in class...”

As she began to leave, Eda paused as she felt someone grabbed onto the sleeve of her suit. Turning around, she found Luz standing in front of her again. “Yes, Kid?”

“Can I sleep with you tonight?” she asked softly, clutching onto her stomach still. “I don’t want to sleep by myself.”

“Of course,” she said, pulling her close. “Let’s go sleep in my nest.”

“Thank you, Eda,” she said as they closed the attic door and headed towards Eda’s bedroom downstairs.


End file.
